Watch the fireworks from NJ and Liberty Island in the less-crowded expanse of Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City! Hudson River, near Murray St and Park Pl West, free!
Walk along the waterfront for fireworks in Queens’ Astoria Park with views of the celebrations at Central Park and Brooklyn, free!
For just $2.25 each way on the tram, you can head to Roosevelt Island for views of Manhattan fireworks. Be warned tho, there are no liquor stores on the island, so BYOB to keep warm! Tram accessible at 59th Street and Second Avenue, $4.50 (rt tkt on tram.)
The Mid-Manhattan Performing Arts Foundation is performing a free concert at St. Bartholomew’s Church, with a rendition of Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man performed at midnight. St. Bartholomew’s Church, 325 Park Ave at 51st St, 11 p.m., free!
Reflect on 2010 and meditate on 2011 at Jivamukti Yoga’s silent mediation event. At midnight the silence is broken and you can enjoy vegan chai tea and words welcoming the new year from yogis Sharon Gannon and David Life. Jivamukti Yoga Center, 9 p.m. to midnight, 841 Broadway between 13th and 14th Sts, second floor. Free!
Take an Asian-inspired walking tour with Adventures on a Shoestring to gear up for the Chinese New Year. On this tour you’ll visit Chinatown sites such as bakeries, herbal shops, Buddhist temples and the Edward Mooney House (built in 1785, it’s the oldest row house in the city.) Tours are at 212-265-2663, $10 Call 212-265-2663 for reservations and other information. Tours at noon, 2, 4, 6pm, and 8 p.m.
Ride your way into the new year with Time’s Up New Year’s Eve Bike Ride. You’ll start at Washington Square Park and fly on up to Central Park’s Belvedere Castle right before the fireworks start. 10:30 p.m., Go to times-up.org for more info.
If you’re intent on watching the ball drop this year, then avoid the crowds and hours of waiting time by heading to the AMC Times Square. There are multiple levels for partying and a five hour open bar for guests 21 and older. AMC Empire 25 Times Square, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tkts start at $35. Call 212-255-4233 for tickets.
Brooklynites who want to stay local may want to head over to Grand Army Plaza for the fireworks display there. The free celebration starts at 11 p.m., with Brooklyn's Rock 'N' Soul Experience and hot chocolate, free!
Join Big Onion Walking Tours for its Historic Lower Manhattan New York in a New Year Walking Tour. “A wide-ranging tour exploring the history, architecture, and people of Lower Manhattan - the birthplace of New Amsterdam and now the world's financial center. Stops could include: Trinity Church, and sites associated with 18th-century slave uprising, J. P. Morgan, Alexander Hamilton, Cass Gilbert, George Washington, Abbie Hoffman, and others.” 1 p.m., Front steps of the U.S. Custom House, located at Bowling Green, $15.
Jazz up your new year with a performance by blues-jazz group Jessy Carolina and the Hot Mess! Radegast Hall and Biergarten, 113 N. Third St., Willamsburg, Brooklyn, $10 gets you a free drink, a glass of champagne at midnight, and a bowl of Anti-hangover soup!
Get some Southern New Year’s comfort with a late-night buffet at Sylvia’s, with music by DJ Jaime Hype, and a champagne toast! $25, 318 Lenox Ave., 212-996-0660 for tkts.
Start 2011 laughing with comedy shows with the Broadway Comedy Club (8 p.m., 318 W. 53rd St., $10 plus two beverage minimum, includes champagne toast, party favors, noisemakesr, and comedy show) and New York Comedy Club (8 p.m., 241 E. 24th St., $10 plus two beverage gratuity, includes party favors and noisemakers, champagne toast, and comedy show.)
Peace in the new year is always a lovely thought, so with that in mind, head to St. John the Divine’s Concert for Peace, 7 p.m., St. John the Divine, for information and reserved seating (for a price) go here: http://www.stjohndivine.org/NYE2010.html, 1047 Amsterdam Ave., free!
For five bucks apiece you can catch three drive-in classics (Eight Legged Freaks, 7p.m., Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 9 p.m., and Night of the Living Dead, midnight) at Spectacle, 123 Third Street near Bedford, Brooklyn, for more info go here: http://spectacletheater.com/fuck-new-years-eve-sci-fi-drive-ins
Of course you can always watch the ball drop for free with the masses, if you don’t mind the wait! http://www.timessquarenyc.org/nye/nye.html, and there is also a Guns N’ Roses tribute band, 8:30 p.m., $25, http://www.ticketfly.com/tickets/venue-details/?tfly_venue_id=479), the classic Floating Kabarette at Galapagos, 8 p.m., $35, http://s80131.gridserver.com/public, and SonicUke’s Ukedrop, 11:45, free, http://sonicuke.com.
Cheap Chick Cheap Tip: For post-midnight fun, swing by Swing46 (46 bet. 8th and 9th)! After midnight you can get in for an extremely reduced rate, at some point, free, and there are still plenty of decorations up and live music playing for a jazzy start to 2011! (Shhh, don't tell them I sent you!)
Happy New Year, Jan. 1, 2011!
There was a life to Times Square before Disney took over, learn all about the “crossroads of the world” with Big Onion Walking Tours! Stops may include The New-York Public Library, Astor Hotel, Palace Theater, Sardi's and sites associated with the Shuberts, Flo Ziegfeld, Bob Hope, Fanny Brice, and Damon Runyon. 1 p.m., Meet at The southeast corner of 42nd Street & Sixth Avenue, at Bryant Park, $15.
Dip your toe into the New Year during a nice icy, cold swim with the Coney Island Polar Bear Club! 1 p.m., Boardwalk at Stillwell Avenue, Coney Island, info here: http://www.polarbearclub.org, free!
Join Discovery Walking Tours today and tomorrow (Jan 1 and 2, 2011) on walks including:
Victorian Christmas and Origins of Christmas Traditions, “Want to experience a new Christmas tradition in New York – something beyond the Rockettes and the Rockefeller Center tree? Go off the beaten path this holiday season by taking this walking tour through three Victorian areas--Gramercy Park, Ladies Mile, and Chelsea--exploring the Christmas traditions that emerged from each. Stops include where O. Henry wrote Gift of the Magi and where Clement Clarke Moore penned 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. The tour will also explore New York's role in the evolution of the modern Kris Kringle, from Washington Irvings St. Nicholas figure to Thomas Nasts jovial Santa.” 2 p.m., $18, Call 212-465-3331 for reservations and meeting place.
Historic Greenwich Village Taverns at New Year’s!
“Toast in the holidays as we gear up for a walking tour of historic pubs, taverns and speakeasies during the year’s most beautiful season. The tour discusses the history behind each tavern and stops at several for refreshment. Stops include a 1920s speakeasy once associated with founding father Thomas Paine, a pub where Robert Kennedy and Norman Mailer contemplated their political futures, and a haunt of Dylan Thomas, author of "A Child’s Christmas in Wales.” 5:30 p.m., $18, Call 212-465-3331 for reservations and meeting place.
The Cooper Hewitt is free today! http://cooperhewitt.org, and you can get your poetry on with The Poetry Project-The 36th Annual New Year’s Day Marathon Reading at St. Mark’s on the Bowery – from 2 p.m. and the Bowery Poetry Club marathon poetry reading at noon, and play bingo at Le Poisson Rouge with drag queen Linda Simpson at 7 p.m. (http://lepoissonrouge.com/events/view/1832)!
Also for Sunday Jan. 2nd, Bring in the New Year with Birds and, ”explore the Lullwater and Peninsula Nature Trails and discover the beautiful plumage and fascinating behavior of the Park’s wintering ducks as they ring in the New Year. Rain or shine. Led by the Brooklyn Bird Club. Meet at the Audubon Center. 10 a.m., free! The Brooklyn Museum will also be free today as well (in lieu of its usual first Saturday program) http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/visit/first_saturdays.php)!
And finally, enjoy 30% off savings at Housing Works Bookstore Jan 2 and 3, 2011!
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